


[vore] Fish Wolf

by DandelionSea, wolfbunny



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Non-fatal vore, Soft Vore, Vore, mermaid au, safe vore, unwilling prey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:14:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21697513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DandelionSea/pseuds/DandelionSea, https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfbunny/pseuds/wolfbunny
Summary: Red (a furry, fleshy wolf) catches a blue skelefish.
Relationships: ClassicBerry, Sans/Sans (Undertale), us sans/ut sans
Comments: 8
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

“I like hanging out with you,” Blueberry assured him, scooting over into his half of the small part of the rock that protruded above the water.

Sans felt his cheekbones flush as their tails touched. How could he return the sentiment to Blueberry without completely giving in to sappiness? Maybe he didn’t even care if it was sappy. Blue was watching him expectantly with those big shiny eyelights. He opened his mouth to say something even if he hadn’t decided what yet. 

“Look out!” was what he ended up saying, because at that moment something large splashed into the shallow water on their landward side. Sans had just enough time to look up and register the wolf, several times his own height even measured from the top of his skull to the end if his tail fins, all shaggy dark red fur and glistening white teeth. How had he failed to notice the approach of such a large animal until it had splashed down right next to them? He must have been too entranced by Blueberry. Not a bad final few moments, he supposed as the wolf’s muzzle filled his vision. 

“Swim away!” Blueberry shouted, slamming into him. They were clumsy on land and the other merskel achieved just enough momentum to knock Sans off the rock into the water. Not enough to follow him before the wolf’s jaws closed on him. 

Sans landed in the water, too stunned to obey Blueberry’s final instruction. It was all he could do to keep his skull above water to see what was happening.

The wolf kept its head lowered, Blueberry’s skull and ribs in its mouth, and his tail thrashed in the air, brushing its chest fur but to no apparent effect. The wolf turned and climbed out of the water, shaking its feet distastefully as sand clung to the wet fur. It sat down a few steps beyond the edge of the water, where it was less rocky. Such a short distance, but almost completely out of reach for Sans. 

Sans clung to the rock where he and Blueberry had been sitting only moments earlier. The wolf dropped Blueberry, and for a moment his soul fluttered with hope as the skelefish flopped onto its paws. Blue started to turn toward the water, but the wolf set one paw on top of him, pressing his bones into the sand, as it made itself comfortable on the beach. Then it dipped its head and took Blue’s tail in its teeth, biting down and making the merskel yelp. Sans flinched, certain that the wolf was going to rip off a chunk of scales and flesh, and Blue would dust in the next moment. But the wolf didn’t press harder, instead letting go and licking at the tail before biting it again. Blue didn’t react much this time; perhaps he’d been more shocked than actually hurt.

The wolf directed its attention to Blue’s tail fins, pinching one between its incisors, then opening its mouth to try and catch the other at the same time, letting the first one flop out. Its clumsiness could have been funny under different circumstances. Finally the wolf caught both fins at once and pulled Blue’s tail deeper into its mouth so that it could raise its head and let him dangle from its jaws. Blueberry scrabbled for something to hold onto, settling for the wolf’s paw as the only available anchor. When the wolf loosened its grip momentarily to pull him further in, he could pull his tail right back out. It wasn’t enough to escape, but the wolf made no progress.

Of course, the wolf didn’t tolerate that for long. It bit down firmly and pulled until Blueberry lost his grip on its paw, then used the momentum to get a slightly bigger mouthful of his tail. It must have swallowed Blue’s tail fins by now, judging by how deep he was between its jaws. It started swallowing in earnest, Blue’s fish half fitting snugly, its tongue lapping at his ribs as they were drawn past its front teeth. Blueberry whimpered or gasped at each swallow, and in a minute his skull and then his arms had disappeared between the wolf’s jaws.

“No…” Sans whispered, but what point was there asking for mercy from a wolf? It was already too late. He still couldn’t look away, horrified but transfixed by what he’d just witnessed, and the thought of Blueberry, still alive surely, somewhere inside all that fur and flesh.

“Jealous?”

Sans blinked, taking a moment to realize who had spoken to him.

“You like to watch? Or are you waitin’ for your turn?” the wolf asked, leering at him as it got to its feet.

“No,” Sans answered, unable to do anything but hold onto the rock. “Swim away,” he remembered Blueberry telling him. But how could he just leave? And besides, his tail seemed to be stuck against the submerged part of the rock.

The wolf stepped gingerly into the water, no pouncing or splashing this time. “Seems like you had plenty of chance to get away if you wanted.” It licked its lips, showing its teeth, and Sans cringed at the memory of them pressing into Blueberry’s scales. 

“Too late now,” said the wolf. “I’ve got my paws wet for you.”

Sans knew he should swim for it, but he couldn’t seem to let go of the rock, even as the wolf lowered its jaws and plucked him off.

Inside its mouth was dark, even more so as it threw its head back and let him slide all the way to the back. Apparently it wasn’t going to take its time like it had with Blueberry. Sans’s tail was ectoflesh, so it might have been an interesting experience to be pressed up against the more traditional kind, if he weren’t so terrified. The wolf swallowed him skull first and he was completely surrounded, squeezed forward bit by bit until he lost even the freedom to flap his tail. 

At least he’d see Blueberry again, he supposed, left with no choice but to endure the trip into the wolf’s stomach, not allowing himself to imagine what grisly future awaited them both, might have befallen Blue already. 

“I told you to swim away.” The only light came from their eyelights but it was enough. 

Sans opened his mouth to apologize, then remembered how Blueberry had shoved him out of the way. If he’d just looked out for himself he undoubtedly could have escaped. This was all Sans’s fault, and he’d made Blue’s heroism meaningless. He lowered his gaze. “Couldn’t just leave you.”

“Yes you could!” Blueberry insisted. But that was the extent of his admonishment. Sans couldn’t have given him space if he’d wanted, with the stomach contracting around them, squeezing them together, but Blueberry didn’t seem to mind, putting his arms around Sans’s ribs. Sans should have known Blueberry of all fish would somehow forgive him even when he didn’t deserve it. The only thing worse for Blueberry than being in here would be knowing he’d let someone else get eaten too. And what would Papyrus think? Sans had seen glimpses of how devastated Blueberry had been when the wolves had gotten Stretch. No doubt his brother would be the same, unable to prevent his cheerful mask from cracking. Although in this case there were no witnesses, so he wouldn’t know precisely what happened. Would the uncertainty make it even worse or would it comfort him to have that sliver of hope?

The soft wet walls pushed at them now and then, and Sans wasn’t sure if it was the wolf moving around or just its stomach trying to grind them up. Blueberry wasn’t the type to just give up, but it proved futile to try and push back out the way they’d come in, and if the wolf could hear their pleas it gave no indication. In the end they could only sit there and cling to each other. 

***

Sans plunged into cold water. He must have passed out, unable to maintain such a level of terror indefinitely. 

“Blue!” someone shouted, and the water whished with sudden motion. 

“Brother!” Blueberry answered, and Sans finally placed the voice. Orienting himself in the water, he looked up to see the brothers locked in an embrace. 

“I thought you were dead!” Blueberry said plaintively. 

“So did I, at first,” Stretch answered, with a wry glance at something outside the water. 

Sans looked around at their new surroundings. This body of water was more spacious than the wolf’s stomach, but still relatively small, its boundaries flat and artificial, the sides transparent. Beyond it was a larger dry space, which also seemed to have a lot of right angles, and the red wolf peering in at them. 

Sans glanced around for somewhere to hide and flitted behind an irregularly shaped stone that shared the tank with them. 

“See, I told you they were fine,” said the wolf. 

“That one seems scared,” said a second wolf. Sans hadn’t even noticed him, their red fur blending together. 

“I dunno why,” said the first wolf. It was looking down at him, its paws hooked over the edge of the transparent wall. 

The other might have been bigger, or it might have just looked taller because it was sitting up on its haunches. It was also wearing a red scarf that didn’t really stand out against its fur. It folded its ears back. “Are you certain it’s not because you grabbed it and swallowed it without talking to it first?”

“Would I do that after you specifically told me not to? How would I know which blue fish was the right one if I didn’t talk to ‘em first?”

“It does look suspiciously as if you just brought all the blue fish you could find.”

“He didn’t wanna leave his friend. Right, fishy?”

Sans tried to hide more of himself behind the rock, but it had an odd, spindly shape.

“Is that true?” Stretch asked, holding Blueberry at arm’s length so that he could see his face. “Did Red ask if you wanted to come here?”

“Red?” Blueberry repeated.

“That wolf. Their names are Red and Edge. But I suppose if he didn’t introduce himself, he probably didn’t explain what was goin’ on, either. That, and Sans there seems pretty traumatized.”

“Sans!” Blueberry had apparently forgotten about him when he saw Stretch, but now he turned to check on him.

“Come on out from behind that palm tree,” Stretch urged. “They’re not gonna hurt ya.”

Sans let himself float away from the rock a little. Now that he looked at it, he could see that it was a crude representation of a palm tree. That explained the colors, too.

“There’s better shelter over there anyway,” Stretch said, waving toward the corner behind him. “Not that the wolves won’t find you if they want to.”

Sans let himself sink to the bottom, which was rough gravel. He didn’t want to interrupt Blueberry’s reunion with his brother, no matter how little sense it made. But Blueberry was worried about him now, and swam over to comfort him, holding him and stroking his skull.

“What is this place?” Sans asked. It would be a pretty disappointing afterlife, if they had to share it with the wolf that had eaten them.

“It’s my fish tank!” said the bigger wolf—that must be Edge. “Do tell me if there’s anything I can add to make it more comfortable.”

Sans didn’t know how to answer that.

“This is my fault,” Stretch said, settling on the gravel next to them.

“What do you mean?” Blueberry objected. “It sounds like it’s Red’s fault! He’s probably the wolf that—that got you, too?”

“Yeah, but it’s my fault he went after you, Blue.” Stretch didn’t meet their eyes. “I missed you, and I told the wolves about it, and when they said they’d bring you here too—I didn’t try very hard to talk ‘em out of it.”

“You didn’t tell Red to pounce on us like that. It’s not your fault.”

Sans couldn’t bring himself to be so forgiving as Blueberry, but he supposed he was glad that all three of them were somehow alive, so he stayed silent.

Stretch seemed relieved that neither of them was going to yell at him. He shrugged. “Can’t blame him too much. Wolves gonna wolf.” He shrugged. “Come on,” he said after a moment. “Let me show you around. It’s a lot smaller than the ocean, but there’s food and no predators other than those two wolves.”

Blueberry seemed intensely interested in all the furnishings of the tank, and full of ideas of how it could be improved. After the tour, he perched on the top of the wall to talk with Edge, who was very interested in his input. Sans hid himself in the artificial rotten log, which Stretch had referred to earlier, lamenting his fate. He was probably stuck here. If the wolves were amenable to returning their pet fish to the ocean, Stretch would have asked them to let him go rather than bring Blueberry here. Could an active fish like Blueberry be happy in a limited space like this? It was fine for him and Stretch—they didn’t need much. He almost wished the wolf had just caught him, and Blueberry had escaped. Then he could have kept Stretch company, even if they were both miserable without their brothers. As it was, he wasn’t sure which of them was worse off: Stretch, who had condemned his brother to a life of captivity, or himself, who would never see Papyrus again. Because no matter what, he definitely couldn’t mention his brother to the wolves, ever.


	2. Tako Razz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Razz plots revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, @DandelionSea for this chapter 2 and accompanying art!  
> The only thing I did was the colors :3  
> -wolfbunny

Razz positioned himself just below the brake of the waves. The ocean had been calm all day, which was perfect for his task. Gazing up out of the water, he struggled to keep his tentacles still against the current. Being a squid had many advantages, one of which was the ability to change the color of his magic to camouflage to any environment. This advantage would be counteracted by any extraneous movement in his limbs; and Razz certainly did not want to be seen now.  
  
He had been watching this part of the shore for weeks now. Every seven days like clockwork two wolves would stroll down the shore, one tall, wearing a red scarf, the other short wearing a leather jacket. They waded out into the water sometimes, snapping up fish for their lunch, but most of the time their walked seemed one purely of leisure. Land-loving monsters who resided by the sea often took it as a novelty, one to be enjoyed briefly, rather than as the home that Razz knew it as. He had kept notes on their demeanor, on their magic, their schedule; it was important, because Razz was planning to kill them.   
  
It was actually quite fortunate that those two wolves were friends. The taller one was the only one that Razz had originally planned to kill, but as luck (or, rather misfortune) would have it, the smaller one had also committed an atrocious sin against the sea. The taller wolf had stolen Razz’s brother from him; the smaller, Papyrus’.  
  
To say that Razz and Papyrus were friends would be… not entirely inaccurate, but not the whole truth either. Papyrus had spared his life, after all, though only on the vague promise that Razz would return to be eaten after he was done avenging his brother. When Papyrus followed Razz to one of his weekly stalking sessions, he had frozen.  
  
“Razz, that’s him!” Papyrus said, earning a shush from Razz. They were above water, and despite the waves Papyrus’ booming voice might carry on the shore. Papyrus covered his mouth and ducked back under the water. Hesitantly, Razz followed him. Papyrus continued immediately. “That’s him. That’s the monster who ate my brother!!”  
  
Razz raised an eyebrow. He knew that Papyrus had lost his brother, though he had not heard how. It was strange to think that both of them lost their brothers to the same set of wolves.  
  
“Are you sure?” Razz asked. Papyrus hesitated.  
  
“Well… I wasn’t there… But my friend Undyne saw the whole thing and told me it was a short red wolf with a fake tooth and a leather jacket!” Papyrus said. “And I’m certain that a wolf matching that description would be hard to find, much less two of them!”  
  
Razz crossed two of his tentacles, using a third to rub his chin. “I see.” And in his head, he began formulating a plan to kill the smaller wolf as well. He couldn’t say why; Razz had a feeling that Papyrus would not make good on his world to eat him when he was done avenging his fallen brother. There was no benefit to himself, and only risk. Maybe it was because leaving behind a grieving wolf would pose extra threats later on, or maybe it was because a creature as gentle and caring as Papyrus should not have to resort to befriending his meals after losing his entire group of friends and family.   
  
And thus, Razz waited just below the water, tentacles curled and ready to spring on his target. The sun sat high above the water, the tide returned to reclaim the beach. As the shadows of the palm trees reached their smallest point, Razz saw his targets appear over the dunes, walking wistfully and carefree. He checked his anger; if he let rage overtake him, then he may lose his chance. He went over his plan in his head once more—he would lunge from the water, taking the larger one by surprise. Then, when he was subdued, he would grab the smaller wolf with his tentacles and drag him back into the ocean, then hold him there until he drowned. The footfalls drew closer, boots splashing against the waves until Razz could feel them against his skin. It was time.  
  
He lunged from the water with all his might, screaming wildly. All of his rage, sorrow, and loss in one, forlorn, enraged battle cry. He would leave this fight with two dead wolves, or not at all. 

Edge felt a spec of something hit his eye. It was barely large enough to cover his entire socket, and slimy. His brother had burst into laughter, doubling over and pointing as he reached up a bony finger to scrape away what he thought was a piece of seaweed. He was quite shocked when the “seaweed” latched onto his fingers so tight it began to ache. He pulled his finger away from his face, just far enough to see a stubby squid monster stuck to his fingers, smacking his hand wildly with its tentacles. His annoyance was complemented with his brother’s irritating laughter.  
  
“Shut the hell up!” Edge snapped at his brother, though with no success. Red continued to laugh, until he was on his knees on the ground.   
  
“Sorry, boss,” he said between wheezes. “I _oct’a_ know better.”  
  
“BROTHER THIS IS A SQUID, NOT AN OCTOPUS!” Edge snapped, shaking his index and middle finger at his brother, on which the purple monster had latched itself. The squid seemed to be making an effort to squeeze his fingers off, and Edge flexed to loosen him.   
  
“Doesn’t matter, I’m _kraken_ up here!” Red said, smile rising across his skull. Edge huffed and flicked the puny monster at his brother’s face. It landed across the bridge of his nose with a satisfying squish. Red reached up and picked it off by the skull. He held it in front of his face, showing off his many sharp teeth to the pinned creature.   
  
“Hey there, little guy,” he said. “Come to wave hello?”   
  
Without warning, the squid lunged forward and bit Red on the nose. Now it was Edge’s turn to double over in laughter, watching his brother swear and try to wrestle the feisty little creature off his face. Red ended up on his back, wriggling in the sand while pulling at the squid by the tentacles. Edge had never wished he had brought his phone to the beach more than now. 

Razz kept his teeth around the wolf’s nose as long as he could before being torn away. When scouting the wolves from a distance, he had failed to take into account the fact that he was very far away, and thus, the wolves _might_ be a bit larger than anticipated. No matter; he was the strongest squid he knew, and he had made it this far—he would not back down. As soon as he was pried away from the bones of the wolf’s nose, he bit its fingers and held on as it thrashed him about in an attempt to dislodge him. Eventually, when that proved futile, the wolf held his fingers, and thus Razz clamped to them, up to his face.  
  
“Oh you are gonna _regret_ doing that, bite-size,” the wolf growled. Razz repressed his fear and growled back, eye sockets narrowed.   
  
“Don’t be like that, Brother,” the taller wolf chided. “Just throw it back in the ocean, it’s probably just scared.”  
  
Razz would have loved to snap that he wasn’t afraid—he was here to kill them both! Unfortunately, that would mean opening his mouth, and losing the advantage he had gotten by latching himself onto the wolf’s finger.   
  
“Nah, I think we should keep this one,” the wolf said, smile turning sinister. “You think your lil pets may want a snack?”  
  
Razz went still; sweat began to bead on his brow. The sun was much hotter on land than it was in the ocean, that must have been why.   
  
The tall wolf huffed, thinking on it. “Maybe. They don’t seem to like squid that much… but this one is much smaller than the last squid we fed them. Maybe they’ll eat it if they can swallow it whole.”   
  
The wolf bent down to examine Razz, and he flicked out a tentacle to smack him across the face. It must have stung at least a little, because the wolf retreated out of his range of attack. Razz was about to mark that as a small victory when the large pressed two fingers to his skull, squeezing him until he let go of the other wolf. He used his other hand to restrain his flailing tentacles.   
  
“Murderers!!” Razz yelled as loud as he could, thrashing side to side in the Wolf’s hands. Tears threatened to peek at his eyes. “You killed my brother!! You ate him!”  
  
“Murderers?” the smaller wolf said, sounding shocked and offended, though it was likely a sarcastic rendition of those emotions. “We ain’t murderers, You’re an octopus—”  
  
“Squid,” the taller corrected.  
  
“And we’re wolves,” the smaller continued, grin spreading across those predatory teeth. “It ain’t our fault you’re at the bottom of the food chain.”   
  
Razz didn’t dignify that with a response. He continued to squirm about in the taller wolf’s hands, feeling dizzy and panicked. He hadn’t planned to be out of the water this long, and the sun was at its hottest around this time of day. If he wasn’t eaten like his brother was, then he would dry out and suffocate soon.   
  
The taller seemed to notice this and maneuver Razz from one hand to the other. “Would you mind holding on to this one while I decide what to do with it? I don’t think it will survive out here too much longer.”   
  
The smaller wolf stuck out its tongue. “No way—it’s so puny! I bet it will taste all bitter.”   
  
“Don’t be difficult, you love squid,” the other reminded him. “You’ve been saying just how delicious that orange squid you ate was for weeks.”   
  
_“Don’t talk about my brother that way!!!”_ Razz cried, tears finally spilling over his cheeks. The wolf holding him simply slipped a gloved finger over his mouth, silencing him while the two brothers talked.   
  
“And see—they’re brothers! I bet this squid will be just as delicious,” the taller wolf said with the confidence of a salesman. The smaller wolf hummed.   
  
“True, but he was a lot bigger than this tiny thing,” the smaller said, examining Razz. “I bet it’s still a baby. Maybe we should throw it back.”   
  
Razz was shaking, hating himself for hoping that maybe the taller would listen to his brother. It would give him a chance for a shameful retreat, failed at his most important mission. Then maybe he would go find Papyrus, and beg him to finally eat Razz. At least he would be gentle, and since he was made of ecto-flesh it wouldn’t be painful at all; and if he had to be eaten by someone, he would rather it be by someone he liked. Not by some wolf already complaining about the burden of having to eat him.   
  
“Brother, just eat the squid,” the taller sighed. “If you do, I’ll get you that disgusting burger from Grillby’s you like for dinner.”  
  
“Well, how can I refuse an offer like that?” he said with a shrug. “Sorry, squiddo, looks like you’re on the menu for lunch.” He grinned at Razz before he opened his mouth. Razz struggled with all his might, trying to squish himself into the cracks between the wolf’s fingers. It was little use; the taller wolf was far more dexterous than his brother, was was easily able to maneuver his fingers around Razz so he could not escape or retaliate. He was raised above the open jaws of the wolf, held upside down so that he was forced to look at the teeth and tongue lolling out to greet him. He was paralyzed for a moment with the primal terror that came from seeing sharp teeth coming close to close around him.   
  
His terror lasted just long enough for the wolf’s maw to shut around him, still with his brother’s fingers resting on his tongue. Razz was scraped off the gloved fingers against the roof of the wolf’s mouth. He was settled on the tongue just long enough to hear a muffled, “Ack, gross, Brother! I have spit all over my glove now!” before he was thrust up against the sides of the wolf’s mouth by the fleshy lump he had been sitting on before. Razz tried to get his bearings, if only to put up some fight before he was swallowed, but the tongue kept pushing him about in the mouth. It was only a moment later he realized that the wolf was tasting him.   
  
Suddenly, Razz was shoved once again against the roof—this time by the tongue, as the wolf opened his mouth to give him one last glimpse at the world outside. “You’re right, bro,” he said, voice far too loud from Razz’s vantage point. “He tastes just like his brother.”   
  
“Don’t talk with your mouth full!” his brother chided. “It’s a filthy habit. Swallow that squid so we can go home.”  
  
With that, the light snapped shut before Razz could wiggle his way out from the wolf’s mouth. Everything tightened, and Razz was shoved back by contracting muscles and that thrice-damned tongue down the beast’s throat. 

Razz woke up warm, wet, and floating upside down.   
  
At first, he was sure he was still in the literal belly of the beast. The last thing he remembered was being swallowed, the trip down, and falling into the wolf’s stomach. He had made a mad scramble to get out, squeezing his tentacles through the tiny hole he had come through. If he were a fleshy squid perhaps he could fit through the opening, but his skull was far too large and rigid as it was; each time he put a tentacle through the hole, the walls would contract and he would be pushed back into the opening. After a while, he gave up and tried biting the walls of the stomach, but they were too big to get his mouth around. With all other options exhausted, Razz gave himself up as lost and lay still in the small, rumbling space.  
  
And that was his first clue that he was no longer in the wolf’s stomach; his tentacles were splayed out too far without touching fleshy walls. Razz flicked his eyelights on and rolled over, orienting himself in the overly clean water. There was a light overhead that was far too bright, shining into the spacious water. Razz’s eyelights dimmed, adjusting to the oppressive light above, as he swam forward searching for something familiar.   
  
Did he die? It seemed like a logical conclusion, though his bones were still sore and his head felt squeezed by a headache. When his eyes adjusted enough for him to see past his own nose, he saw a small patch of kelp growing not too far away. It would make for good cover while he got his bearings, plus provide a tasty snack. He swam with far more purpose, diving down to the pebbles lining the floor of…wherever he was.  
  
He walked through the kelp garden, searching for a nice rock to sit on and camouflage into. Soon he saw the next best thing - fishbones. It seemed like they had already been picked clean, but Razz could probably nibble on the cartilage. He wrapped his tentacles around the long bone, meaning to rest for a moment before eating his fill. His rest was ended before it even began, as the world began shaking. Razz doubled his grip on the bone until he realized that it was the source of his tumbling world. The bone rose up, revealing the rest of the skeletal fish monster it was attached too. Razz’s grip went slack, and he floated away so that he was right in front of the mer’s face.   
  
Razz’s jaw fell open as he looked up at the sleepy creature. Its orange magic tail flicked and it yawning, showing off rows of predatory teeth.   
  
_“You think your lil pets may want a snack?”_  
  
Razz realized with a jolt what had happened. The bright lights, the strange pebbles lining the floor, the overly sanitary water; he was in a fish tank. The wolves had brought him back home as live fish food!! This couldn’t real; how was it that he avoided being eaten once only to be immediately turned into food for someone’s _pet!!_  
  
The fish continued to stare at him, seeming confused by the presence of a squid in its domain. He was far smaller than the wolves, but even then Razz’s whole body could fit in the skull of the monster. The orange fish blinked, turning its head to examine Razz.   
  
“uh… hi?” It said with a slow drawl that reminding Razz of a particularly lazy version of Papyrus. Without thinking, Razz did something he hadn’t done in a very long time; he inked. It was embarrassing, and drained his already dwindling supply of magic, but the purple cloud of misty magic gave him plenty of cover to escape.   
  
Razz made a mad dash for a dead log. His tentacles touched down on the rough plastic with a slight lurch. His shock at the unfamiliar material couldn’t last long; he keep his pace at top speed until he was all the way inside. Then, on instinct, he camouflaged his magic so that all that could be seen of him was the round, white speck of his skull.   
  
And then…nothing. Razz caught his breath, settled down, and did—nothing. There was nothing to do. He could hear the voices of more fish chattering outside his log; he was surrounded. All he could do now was hide and conserve his strength. He wouldn’t go down without a fight, not when these opponents were ones he could actually take in a fight.   
  
It seemed that once again, Razz fell asleep, though he didn’t remember doing so until he had woken up again to the sound of a gentle rapping of knuckles against his log. Razz snuck lower into his hiding spot.   
  
“Hello?” a voice came from the other side of the log, accented heavily with fish speak. Razz bit back a growl that threatened to turn to a whimper. “May I come in? I promise I’m not here to eat you; I just want to say hello!”  
  
Razz believed that about as much as he believed the ocean was made of sand. He stayed silent, tentacles flexing and curling involuntarily. It seemed his silence was not enough of a ‘no’ to the strange fish to keep him from entering, and Razz wondered if there was anything he could have said that would keep the damn fish from swimming right into his hiding spot.   
  
The fish was much smaller than the one Razz had accidentally latched himself onto; Razz was about half the size of this one, which made him feel much better about his odds in combat. The fish was skeletal, much like Papyrus and the other fish he had seen in the tank, and sported a bright blue tail of ecto flesh. His eyelights were blown up almost as big as his sockets, and they very quickly landed on Razz. “Oh wow! I almost didn’t see you. You’re really good at hiding,” he said, swimming forward. Razz bared his teeth and he stopped, holding out his hands. “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you, I promise. We get fed three times a day here, we don’t need any snacks.” He smiled. “We’ve all kinda lost our taste for live food anyways, after being eaten by a wolf and all.”  
  
Razz’s brow furrowed, and before he could stop himself he asked, “You were eaten too…?”  
  
The fish nodded. “Yep! Me, my brother, and my friend; It was really scary, so I understand how you feel.” The fish swam forward until he was a comfortable distance away from Razz for a conversation. “My name is Blue—what’s yours?”   
  
The fish’s voice was casual and friendly, and it reminded Razz of Papyrus just enough to allow him to lower his guard. His tentacles unbunched and slowly changed back to their normal purple. He hoped he wouldn’t regret this. “My name is Razz. Where are we?” he said.  
  
“It’s a fish tank!” Blue replied. “That tall wolf—his name is Edge—he owns this huge tank and I guess he and his brother have made a hobby of catching mer-monsters for it.”  
  
“Huh…” Razz murmured, adrenaline giving way to exhaustion once more. And hunger. God, he was hungry. “You said you get fed three times a day?” Razz asked. “When is the next feeding?”   
  
Blue hummed. “Not too long from now, but it’s not food that’s good for squids.” Razz wilted. Of course—the wolves meant this tank for fish, not squids. His residency was meant to be temporary. “But I planted that kelp garden when the first squid got here, so if you’re hungry you can go get some of the—”  
  
“Other squid?” Razz asked, curious. If he were going to stay here for the foreseeable future (or until the wolves found _other_ uses for him) it would be nice to have the company of someone more like him.   
  
“Yeah!” Blue said. “He came here a few months ago; I’ll introduce you two when he wakes up— Slim can be so lazy, he’s a lot like my broth—”  
  
Razz stared up at Blue, repeating the words over and over in his head. Slim…his brother... He was alive?! He must be—the wolves must have put him in the tank the same way they did Razz. Razz shot past Blue, out the log, and swam about through the kelp forest and over the rocks and under the plastic twigs. He called his brother’s name over and over, loud as he could. He saw two other fish on his trip—one he recognized as the pile of bones he had rested on; the other began swimming beside him at a relaxed pace.   
  
“uh, if you’re lookin’ for slim,” the new fish said, flicking his dark blue tail, “he’s taken a likin’ to sleeping behind the heater.”  
  
“Where is that?” Razz said, pace unwavering. The fish pointed behind them to the left. Razz gave him a nod of appreciation and swam that way. He didn’t know what a ‘heater’ looked like, but judging from the word, he could follow the stream of warm water to its source to find his brother.   
  
Sure enough, behind a large black box that kept the water a comfortable temperature, a tangle of amber tentacles wrapped around a sleeping skull. Razz felt tears stinging his eyes as he floated down to the fine pebbles that dusted this part of the tank. He walked over to his brother, and wrapped his tentacles around him. Slim barely stirred, but mumbled something pleasant in his sleep and accepted the hug; he was just as Razz remembered him.   
  
Razz slipped into his brother’s arms, allowing himself the luxury to relax. In the end, he’d survived confrontation with two predators and was reunited with his brother. He would call that a success. He closed his eyes, and enjoyed the feeling of his brother’s magic pressed against his own. The fish left him and his brother alone, giving them time for their quiet, exhausted reunion. 


End file.
